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My test kit FINALLY arrived and I have numbers for you guys!

FC 5.6ppm
CC 0.2ppm
pH 7.6
Alk 105? went clear at 100 and red at 110
Ca 420
CYA -- this is stumping me. We have had it tested at the pool store twice this year. The first time they said it was low and to add some. We did...about 4 cups. The next time they said there was none so we added a bunch again. Now since then we've had to use pucks a couple of times while we were away. Today I tested with the new kit and could still see the black dot when the test vial was completely full?!? Riddle me this

Re: My test kit FINALLY arrived and I have numbers for you g

16K freeform gunite with spa; Pentair 4000 DE filter; Century Whisperflow 1 HP; Pentair Minimax heater.Troublefree does not mean Maintenancefree. It's like brushing your teeth: You can spend a couple minutes a day and pennies a week or go to the dentist once a year and spend several thousand dollars.A pool is like a pet - you have to feed it every day, even the days you don't want to play with it!

Re: My test kit FINALLY arrived and I have numbers for you g

Yes, I did know that. It actually priced out cheaper than getting the borax and the acid so made more sense to do it this way.

I was calculating out the borax we'd need based on that very page when I found this product cheaper.

Sounds like you've got the BBB approach well in hand, then!

16K freeform gunite with spa; Pentair 4000 DE filter; Century Whisperflow 1 HP; Pentair Minimax heater.Troublefree does not mean Maintenancefree. It's like brushing your teeth: You can spend a couple minutes a day and pennies a week or go to the dentist once a year and spend several thousand dollars.A pool is like a pet - you have to feed it every day, even the days you don't want to play with it!

Re: My test kit FINALLY arrived and I have numbers for you g

Originally Posted by survey77777

CYA -- this is stumping me. We have had it tested at the pool store twice this year. The first time they said it was low and to add some. We did...about 4 cups. The next time they said there was none so we added a bunch again. Now since then we've had to use pucks a couple of times while we were away. Today I tested with the new kit and could still see the black dot when the test vial was completely full?!? Riddle me this

The 4 cups should have raised your cya to [s:1wgjc6uk]21[/s:1wgjc6uk] ~10 ppm. How many pucks and how much more cya have you added? The granular cya can take up to a week to show on test.

Originally Posted by survey77777

FC 5.6ppm
CC 0.2ppm

I would use the 10 ml samples size that gives you a 0.5 resolution verses the 25 ml sample size you are using. It will save you reagents and the increased resolution is not needed.

Re: My test kit FINALLY arrived and I have numbers for you g

My OH was doing the adding at that time, but if I had to guess he added another 4 cups. We did replace our filter in between those additions so I'd be willing to accept that we could have lost a fair amount of the first dose but not the second. We avoided any backwashing etc for 10 days afterwards as well to avoid losing more. I'd say he's added a total of about 10 pucks over the time period too. I seriously can't figure this out.

Thank you for the advice on the sample size. I went with the more accurate one for a first time as I really had no idea what I was getting into! Your logic makes sense to me.

Re: My test kit FINALLY arrived and I have numbers for you g

10 3-inch pucks (~8 ounces each) should have added ~ 14 ppm cya.

How were you adding the granular cya?

Total right now should be the initial [s:kiw65bh9]4 lbs cya added 21 ppm, additional 4 lbs of cya added 21 ppm, 8 pucks added 14 ppm for a grand total of 56 ppm[/s:kiw65bh9]. This is assuming you didn't backwash any out. 56 ppm is as high you should go unless you have a swg (saltwater chlorine generator).

Re: My test kit FINALLY arrived and I have numbers for you g

We have had it tested at the pool store twice this year. The first time they said it was low and to add some. We did...about 4 cups. The next time they said there was none so we added a bunch again. Now since then we've had to use pucks a couple of times while we were away. Today I tested with the new kit and could still see the black dot when the test vial was completely full?!? Riddle me this

Unless you made an error on the testing, you have no CYA....or at least less than 30 (What kind of test do you have?)

NEVER trust pool store testing. How you ended up with less than you thought would be there I don't know but DO NOT trust the pool store test over what you can see with your own eyes.

Re: My test kit FINALLY arrived and I have numbers for you g

I reviewed those directions and they are the exact steps that I took when I tested.
The test kit that I have is the Taylor K-2006
I'm assuming there is no logical reason that we would lose CYA other than that it was lodged in the sand of the old filter. This would account for some loss...but not the stuff added afterwards.
Regardless, I appreciate all of the advice here and will add more tomorrow.
As to adding the boracic acid...can I just go ahead and do this anytime?

Re: My test kit FINALLY arrived and I have numbers for you g

So this issue has been puzzling me now all day long. I tested the FC this morning and it was at 5.0. Then this evening it was only down to 4.0 after a heavy day of swimming, super high temps, and straight sunshine all day long. So if I have no stabilizer how is this possible.
I also retested using the other bottle of reagent in the kit to see if I got the same results...and I did.

Nothing has been added to the pool in this time frame and there are no pucks in the pool.